A Barrel Full

U.S. energy giant Exxon said it planned to invest hundreds of millions of euros in Germany to tap what are estimated to be vast quantities of natural gas reserves, in an interview to be published Monday.

On July 9th 2010, Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo SA performed first in Poland large-scale fracturing operation in the Markowola-1 well (located within the Pionki-Kazimierz license) with the aim of proving unconventional gas reserves (tight gas). If the fracturing process delivers positive results, development work designed to prepare the formation for production will shortly be undertaken. If tight gas is found in the reservoir, production could be launched in three to four years. Unconventional gas plays occur in shale rocks (shale gas), low-permeability sandstones and carbonates (tight gas), as well as coal beds (coal-bed methane). Tight gas appears to be the predominant variety of unconventional gas, e.g. in the US tight gas accounts for more than 20% of total recoverable gas reserves. The technology currently relied on to produce unconventional gas involves drilling of a vertical well, followed by drilling of a horizontal well, which is then stimulated by fracturing: a m